Tran Duc Luong, deputy head of the state inspection agency, speaks about its recruitment problems during a press briefing in Hanoi on April 11

Vietnam's government inspection unit has appointed unnecessary and under-qualified individuals to official posts, a senior member admitted at a press conference in Hanoi, held on Friday.

During the quarterly briefing, Tran Duc Luong, deputy head of the State Inspectorate said that some 50 appointments in 2011 were too many.

“The number was excessive. Some institutes had four deputies, some departments five--well beyond the regulated number (of three),” he said.

He said 23 appointments were given to increase the inspectors’ income based on their experience and to give them more power as their job requires them to constantly interact with central government agencies.

The rest were given to fill slots at three new institutes: post-inspection examination, financial planning and receiving complaints.

He said some officials turned out to be ethically unqualified and have been since punished, while others failed to meet their job requirements and had to be transferred.

“There’s an official who violated the laws soon after being appointed and has been removed from his post.

“We’re aware that there were defects.”

But Luong said those decisions were made by the agency's preceding Party Unit Board which completed its term in 2011.

He said those defects have been resolved. Training has been given to officials who were deemed professionally unqualified for their positions. A number of officials have been reassigned to more suitable positions, three have been fired, others have been demoted.

When asked to comment on financial reports that revealed several agency leaders (including former chief Tran Van Truyen and current deputy Ngo Van Khanh) possess hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to property and stock holdings, Luong said checks have been conducted and “there’s no evidence to assert that the assets are not transparent.”

Vietnam’s GDP per capita in 2012 rose to $1,755 according to the World Bank.

Luong said income from the agency employees comes from salaries and bonuses established under the government’s payment scheme, in addition to portions of embezzled or lost assets recovered during inspection.

He said the assets listed in the officials’ report also include those belonging to their family members.

“We don’t attach the specific income of a specific person to the asset value they list.”

The agency has also received complaints over the expansion of Truong Chinh Street in Hanoi, which was allegedly altered from a straight to a curved design to avoid the houses of leading military officials.

Luong said his agency has only received complaints about compensation and not about alterations to the road's direction, as the media reported.

“It’s still under Hanoi’s jurisdiction, but we will pay attention.”

Hanoi authorities and the Ministry of National Defense which owns the land have been passing the buck back and forth about who ordered the straight design be curved.